On Nov. 18, the Senate passed by voice vote the Drug Quality and Security Act, sending to president Barack Obama's desk legislation that implements federal tracking and tracing of drugs and strengthens federal regulations on pharmacy compounding.

The bipartisan bill, which has the support of such trade groups as the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the National Community Pharmacists Association and the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, ties up a couple of problematic loose ends in the pharmaceutical supply chain, namely the so-called "downstream" supply chain, which refers to the path that drugs take from their manufacturers to providers and patients, as well as sterile compounding.

Congress is expected to pass the Drug Quality and Security Act, which would subject sterile compounding pharmacies to stronger federal regulations and has attracted support from an independent pharmacy trade group, compared with a previous effort at federal regulations of compounding, Senate Bill 959, which many pharmacists feared would threaten their businesses and patients' access to compounded drugs. The efforts to place compounding pharmacies under federal regulations stem from last year's scandal in which many patients died and more were sickened after taking injected steroids contaminated with fungus.

The bills' purpose is simple enough: protecting the safety of patients by preventing irresponsible pharmacies like the New England Compounding Center from slipping through the cracks. But the older bill attracted opposition from independent pharmacies because, despite its good intentions, forced them to make costly changes to their business models or force them out of compounding altogether.

As the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives examined the meningitis outbreak this week, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores distinguished between the types of pharmacy compounding and the settings in which they take place, and emphasized the critical, life-saving benefits of pharmacy compounding.

How can Congress plug the leaks in the pharmaceutical supply chain and dry up the stream of gray market drugs without making the current drug shortage even worse? And can federal regulators shut down gray market profiteers without limiting “the ability of pharmacies to take care of their patients?”

Are the nation’s more than 330,000 pharmacy technicians ready to step up to a higher level of patient services and a more demanding but rewarding career? For most pharmacy techs, that step up in duties is either fast approaching or has already begun.

Asteres, a provider of 24/7 automated pharmacy kiosks, earlier this week announced that Guthrie Health is the first hospital pharmacy to offer OTC products in addition to prescriptions at their ScriptCenter kiosk.

SPECIAL REPORTS

It’s done. A hearing aid category specific to the over-the-counter arena was signed into law in August; all that remains to be created is the regulatory framework. Read more in this special report. Read more...

IN THIS ISSUE

Drug Store News examines the biggest trends in the private label space; offers an update on the generics market; spotlights the biggest OTC trends; finds out how influencers are being used by beauty brands; and much more!Read more...